2021年经济学人 疫情重创之下的美国CEO薪资飙升,那你呢?(2)（在线收听）

The result was a continuation of the inexorable rise of CEO pay in America during a year that, for mere mortals, was one of massive job losses, furloughing and government support. According to MyLogiq, a data gatherer, the median pay of nearly 450 CEOs running firms in the S&P 500 that have reported so far was $13.2m last year, an increase for the fifth year running. It said Mr Nassetta and Mr Del Rio were among two dozen bosses in that group who got a pay rise even though their firms lost money.

所造成的的结果是，美国首席执行官们的薪酬在这一年里持续不断地上涨，而普通人在这一年里则面临大规模失业、休假以及政府支持。据数据收集机构MyLogiq称，截至目前，标准普尔500指数成份股中近450位首席执行官去年的薪酬中位数为1320万美元，连续第五年上涨。报告显示，纳塞塔和德尔里奥隶属于即使公司亏损但仍然获得加薪的24位首席执行官群体之中。

So now comes the backlash from investors, right? So far this year, shareholders have used “say-on-pay” votes at annual general meetings to censure an unusually large number of America’s biggest firms for gerrymandering pay policies, including GE, AT&T, a telecoms giant, IBM, a tech firm, and Walgreens Boots Alliance, a pharmacy business. Pay consultants report that those CEOs yet to face combative shareholder meetings are “sweating it”. That is no bad thing if it suggests that institutions are so fed up with the stratospheric rewards on offer that they convince boards to put an end to them. But don’t bet on it. Shareholders remain in as much of a muddle over high pay as company directors.

所以现在受到了投资者的强烈抵制，对吗？今年以来，股东们在年度股东大会上通过“薪酬决定权”投票，谴责了众多大型美国公司的不公正薪酬分配政策，其中包括通用电气GE、电信巨头AT&T、科技公司IBM和制药企业沃博联。薪酬顾问报告称，那些尚未面对激烈股东大会的首席执行官们“一身冷汗”。如果这表明机构对所提供的同等薪酬感到厌烦，以至于能说服董事会终止这样的做法，那倒也不是坏事。但别打赌。股东们和公司董事在高薪问题上都是一团乱麻。

To be fair, it’s a tricky issue. There is a widely held view in America that executive pay, like the stockmarket, always rises. That’s not strictly accurate. During the second world war pay fell, and for 30 years after barely budged. But since then, CEO pay inflation has been a fairly reliable assumption: the average level has risen about tenfold since the mid-1970s, vastly outpacing the income of average workers.

平心而论，高薪问题的确棘手。在美国，人们普遍认为，高管薪酬和股票市场一样，总是上涨的。严格说来，这种说法并不准确。在第二次世界大战期间，薪酬下降，而且此后30年几乎没有变化。但从那时起，CEO薪酬上涨一直是一个相当可靠的假设：自上世纪70年代中期以来，他们的平均薪酬水平已经上升了约10倍，大大超过了普通工人的收入。